Musical instrument.



No. 892,908. PATENTED JULY 7, 1908.

- A. SORGLEGHNER.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED DEC.22.1906.

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PATENTED JULY 7, 1908.

A. SORGLEOHNER. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED D EG.22,1906.

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No'. 892,908. PATENTBD JULY '7, 1908. A. SORGLEOHNBR. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 22, 1906.

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fl f v My UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANTHONY SORGLEGHNER, OF MILLVALE, PENNSYLVANIA.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Application filed December 22, 1906.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTHONY SORGLEOH- NER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Millvale, in the county of Alleghenyand State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates generally to an improvement in musical instruments, and particularly to a single instrument combining in effect a zither and harp.

The main object of the present invention is to produce in a single instrument a musical device having capabilities and musical characteristics beyond that possessed by either the ordinary zither or harp, the construction providing for the addition to the ordinary zither, which includes the five melody strings, the accompaniment strings, and the bass strings, of a harp construction including a number of open melody strings arranged in diatonic order, permitting the use of the harp in connection with the accompaniment of the zither or the Zither melody strings in connection with a harp, thereby providing an instrument by which the selection of tones and manner of execution by a player is practically unlimited.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a simple means whereby any particular note or notes in corresponding octaves of the harp strings may be readily effected to produce a sharp or flat of the particular note, thereby providing variation of the melody strings of the harp to permit playing in any or all existing keys.

The invention will be described in the following specification, reference being had particularly to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a musical instrument constructed in accord ance with my invention, Fig. 2 is a top plan of the frame, Fig. 3 a bottom plan of the same, Fig. 4 a transverse section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, Fig. 5 a horizontal longitudinal section of a portion of the harp frame illustrating the lever mechanism for controlling the pitch of the harp strings, Fig. 6 a side elevation of the same, Fig. 7 a vertical section on line 77 of Fig. 6, Fig. 8 an elevation partly in section of one of the mandrels, and Fig. 9 a broken elevation partly in section of one of the operating levers.

Referring particularly to Figs. 2 and 3,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July '7, 1908.

Serial No. 349,137.

wherein is shown the frame of my improved musical instrument it will be noted that said frame 1 includes an outline strip 2 shaped to provide the desired contour of the instru- 3 ment. The strip 2 hereinafter termed the main frame is shaped to provide at one side an approximately rectangular outline to provide a frame 3 simulating the ordinary zither frame, and at the opposite side of approximately triangular outline to simulate the ordinary harp frame 4. The zither frame and harp frame are divided by a cross strip 5 and the har frame is similarly divided centrally of its ength by a transversely I disposed cross strip 6. The main frame is, of course, to be of any ornamental curvature or finish, such being unimportant so far as the details of the resent invention are concerned, as practica ly any varied design may be given the main frame without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The zither frame at the relatively upper portion or head 7 is reduced fora portion of its width to provide a ledge 8 of less height than that of the remainder of the head, the rest of the zither frame being correspondingly reduced to equal in thickness that of the ledge 8. A cross bar 9 is arranged in proximity to and parallel with the side bar of the zither frame, being spaced therefrom a distance equal to that of the ordinary fret plate. The head 7 of the zither frame is also formed with an openinglO extending partly therethrough and designed to receive the mechanism for tuning the melody strings of the zither.

The relatively inner edge of the harp frame is formed with a rib or projection 11, arranged to receive the upper sounding board, as hereinafter described, the relatively upper surface of the rib being spaced from the u per surface of the frame a distance equa to that of the thickness of the sounding board. The relatively lower por tion of the harp frame is formed with an opening 12 extending partly therethrough and designed to receive the string controlling keys hereinafter described, the lower wall of the opening 12 being formed with a laterally pro'ected recess 13 which extends through the lower wall of the main frame, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

Referring particularly to Fig. 3 which illustrates a bottom plan of the main frame it will be noted that the relatively lower surface of the rib 11 of the harp frame is spaced a greater distance from the lower surface of the main frame than is the upper edge of said rib from the upper surface of the frame, provision being thus made for an additional sounding board to be later described. The

lower surfaces of the cross bars 5 and 6 terl lninate 111 coincldence with the lower surface of the rib 11, and the zither frame is cut out from the lower side to provide a rib 14 around the relatively inner edge also on a plane with the surface of the rib 11.

15 represents the lower or main sounding board, conforming in contour to the inner edge of the main frame and being secured upon the underside of the ribs 11. and 14 and. the cross bars 5, 6 and 9. This sounding board is approximately equal half the distance between the relatively lower surface of the rib 11. and the lower surface of the main frame, so that when said sounding board is in place the lower surface thereof is some distance above the lower surface of the main frame. The base board 16 is then secured in place overlying and rest ing upon the lower surface of the main frame. By this construction a space is provided throughout the instrument between the main sounding board and the base board.

The upper sounding board 17 of the zither frame is secured directly upon the ledge S, the cross bar 5, the cross bar 9 and the relatively lower portion of the main frame, said upper sounding board equaling in thickness the differences between the thickness of the ledge 8 and the head 7, so that when said board is in place the upper surface thereof is in a plane with the upper surface of the head, presenting an unbroken surface. The upper sounding board 18 of the harp frame is secured directly upon the upper surface of the rib 11, equaling in thickness the distance from the upper surface of the rib and the upper surface of the main frame. relative disposition of that portion of the zither frame covered by the upper sounding board and the upper surface of the rib 1 Iv is such that when the zither sounding board 17 and. the harpsounding board 18 are in place the upper surface of said boards are in the same plane, thus presenting an even surface throughout the length and width of the instrument. The finger or fret board 19 of the zither is secured in place between the side portion of the zither frame and the cross bar 9, said fret board being of the usual construction in instruments of this character. A string plate 20 is secured to the lower portion of the Zither frame, being arranged to removably receive five strings 21 to overlie the fret board and a series of strings 22 including the accompaniment strings and bass strings of the usual zither construction. The upper ends of the strings referred to are secured to tuning pegs 23 for tuning in the usual manner, the pegs 23 to which the in thickness to The melody strings 21 of the zither are secured being mounted in a plate 24 overlying the opening 10 in the zither frame, within which opening is arranged the mechanism for operating said pegs controlled by the usual keys 25 projecting through the side of the frame, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. Adjacent the tuning pegs 23 any preferred form of bridge 26 is used, together with the ordinary vibration breaking pins 27.

The harp strings 28 of which there may be any desired number are arranged in diatonic order overlying the upper sounding board, being spacedtherefrom. to provide for the necessary vibration. A string plate 29 is secured to the upper surface of the lower portion of the harp frame overlying and concealing the openings 12 and 13, the lower edge of this plate being formed for the removable connection thereto of the strings 28. The upper end of each of the strings is secured to the usual tuning peg 30, vibration breaking pins 31 being arranged in connec tion with each string, all of which parts may be of any usual or preferred construction. As the strings of the harp are arrangml in diatonic order it is obvious that if it is desired to change the key or to sound any half tone otherthan that included in the eight tones represented in the octave, means must be provided for varying the length of the particular string. This is accomplishwl in the musical instrmnent of my invention by the construction. illustrated in Figs. 5 to 9 inclusive.

Mounted for revoluble movement in the opening 12 in the harp frame are mandrels 32, reduced at their respective ends forcooperation with openings formed in the lower wall of the opening and in the string plate 29). The mandrels respectively underlie the strings to be operated, five such mandrels being mounted for cooperation with each octave of strings, the stril'igs representing the half tones, namely of the third and fourth and the seventh and eighth intervals in the normal diatonic octave being without such mandrels. The relatively upper end of each mandrel is projected beyond the string plate 29 and is threaded for the reception of a U-shaped or pronged string stop 33, between the prongs of which the string designed to cooperate with the particular mandrel is arranged, it being understood that the normal position of the stop is such that neither of its arms is in contact with the string, hence the latter is free to vibrate throughout its full length and afford in vibration its normal tone.

The end walls of the recess 13 are each formed with a series of transversely arranged kerfs 34, the kerfs of one wall being in longitudinal alinement with the kerfs of the opposite wall. Guiding plates 35 are disposed in the respectively alined kerfs, four of such plates being used, and thereby dividing the space between the base plate of the instrument and the string plate 29' into five independent spaces. The mandrels 32 are connected by bars 36, the connection being such that a series comprising every fifth mandrel is adapted for uniform or simultaneous movement, that is one bar is connected to the first, sixth and eleventh mandrel, the second bar being connected to the second, seventh and twelfth mandrel and so on throughout the series, assuming the mandrels to be limited to fifteen, as shown. As there are fifteen mandrels shown and each bar is connected to three of said mandrels there will be five bars used in the specific arrangement and number of strings shown. To provide for proper and independent relation of these bars they are arranged in superimposed relation, each of said respective bars being opposite one of the spaces between the.

guide plates 35, as clearly shown in Fig. 6.. Each bar is connected to an operating lever 37, the handle portion of which projects between the guide plates immediately above and below the particular bar. The mandrels are connected to the levers by links 38 projecting laterally from the mandrels and pivotally connected to the respective bars, all of said mandrels being so connected to their particular bars with the exception of that group of five mandrels within the plane of the recess 13. As by the arrangement and connection of the bars and mandrels these five mandrels are each connected to an independent bar, I utilize these mandrels as the lever mandrels, extending the particular lever beyond its pivotal connection to the bar and connecting said extension directly to the particular mandrel. By this construction it is obvious that by the operation of any one lever the bar connected therewith is moved longitudinally of the opening 1 2 and the mandrels connected with that bar are partially rotated with the effect to cause the arms or prongs of the stop 33 to engage the strings normally disposed between said arms. The guide plate, the upper surface of the base plate, and the lower surface of the string plate, within the plane of the recess 13 are provided with coacting friction buttons 39, of a slightly yielding character and so disposed as to receive between them and secure in operative position the respective levers when the latter are manually shifted in operation.

As the strings of the harp section are arranged in diatonic order, and the whole tones only of such scale are provided with the stops 33, it is obvious that by connecting every fifth mandrel to one operating bar, I am enabled by the movement of said' bar to simultaneously effect the same note of each octave of the harp throughout the series. As the stops 33 are arranged with a definite relation to the end support of the strings, that is so that when the stop is moved into cooperation with the string the latter will be so sharped as to increase the normal tone of that string a half tone, it is evident that a movement of any particular lever will sharp all similar tones of the harp series of strings. As every whole tone included in the harp series is provided with a stop I am enabled to sharp any or all of said tones by the movement of one or more of the levers. It is equally obvious that, in the event it is desirable to flat any particular note a proper movement of the particular lever to. sharp the next lower note will be effective for such purpose. I am thus enabled by the construction described to so arrange the single action mechanism as to provide for sharping or fiatting any note of the harp strings, this result being primarily gained by the diatonic arrangement of the string controlling means to cooperate only with the same note of each octave through the series of strings.

The upper sound boards ofthe zither and harp sections are formed with the usual openings 40, the sound board of the harp having two such openings for the spaces on the opposite sides of, the cross bar 6.

In the construction of the musical instrument it is to be particularly noted that 1 provide an upper and a lower sound board, the latter being spaced from the base of the instrument and from the upper sound board.- The harp section is further divided into independent sections by cross strip 6, thereby materially increasing the sound effect.

The instrument described is readily adapted for use in playing all character of music adapted for stringedinstruments. As the melody strings of the zither, the accompaniment strings thereof and the melody strings of the harp section, together with the controlling mechanism for the latter provides such variation as will enable the performer to execute any character of music limited solely by his knowledge and ability, the capabilities of the instrument constructed as described and shown will be appreciated.

Having thus described the invention what Y is claimed as new, is

1. A framework for musical instruments comprising an outline section and a cross strip dividing said section into two parts, abase board secured to the frame underlying both of said parts, a single sounding board underlying both of said parts and spaced from the base board, an individual sounding board for each of said parts overlying the single sounding board, said cross strip dividing the space overlying the single sounding board into individual sound boxes.

2. A framework for musical instruments comprising an'outline section and a cross strip dividing said section into two parts, a base board secured to the frame underlying both 0i said parts, a singlesounding board underlying both of said' parts and spaced from thebase board, an individual sounding board for each of said parts overlying the single sounding board, said cross strip dividmg the space above the single sounding board into individual sound boxes, and an independent series of strings overlying each individual sound box.

3. A musical instrument including a framework carrying three distinct series of strings, a fret board disposed beneath one series of strings, the second series of strings being without string shortening devices, the

m1 com third series of strings. being arranged in 15 diatonic order, a single sounding board underlying the second and third series of strings, and a cross strip carried by the frame and dividing the sound space above the sounding board to form individual sound boxes for the second and third series of strings.

In testimony whereof, I allix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANTHONY SO HGLECH NER. l/Vitnesses W. A. YoUNG, EDWARD L. REED. 

